Tendering for contracts in the public sector can be a really good way to increase your client base, particularly when you consider that the Government has committed to procuring 25% of its contracts through SMEs.

Getting started can seem daunting as the process involved is a far cry from private sector procurement where buyers can seemingly pick and choose suppliers with more freedom. However, this can favour small businesses with the right products, services and procedures in place.

Whatever the size of your business, the best way to get started is to register for tender notifications from relevant websites. Here’s a list to get you started:

• For Peterborough City Council, you can find information about their procurement process here. where you’ll find more information about the tendering process. In order to be considered for tender, you’ll need to register as a supplier on SourceDogg, here.
• For contracts slightly further afield, you can register for information about tendering opportunities throughout Cambridgeshire and beyond here.
• For more information about supplying central government and to learn about the procurement and tendering process in more depth, please click here.
• In order to view central government opportunities where you can narrow the search by region, contract value and sector, please click here.
• There is also a specific web portal for supplying digital services to the government which can be found here.
• The Department for International Trade, the government’s export and investment promotion department, advertises international tendering opportunities through:
  • Contracts Finder
  • Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) for high-value public sector contracts in other European Union (EU) countries.
• And the Enterprise Europe Network has a portal allowing you to find overseas partners for your business here.

For more information, contact Opportunity Peterborough.